"Hog Law" Question... - Trains Magazine
We would do so, but only under protest.
(“We” being the crews from the PTRA)
We contacted both the FRA and the Texas Railroad Commission, and each sent a field officer to observe.
It only took one run to solve the problem.
Both the FRA and the TRRC sent the same memo, word for word, to the main offices of the superintendents of both UP and BNSF, along with the KCS and the PTRA.
Slightly condensed, it reads...
In that there exist some confusion as to what constitutes an emergency situation, necessitating a crew to exceed the Federal hours of service law; Broken couplers, blocked grade crossings, both at grade and automobile crossings, blocked or fouled main lines, yard leads and or any tracks fouled (ect.) are not and do not fall under the concept of "acts of God" or constitute and "Emergency", in that all can be prevented or relieved by proper planning and forethought on the part of the carrier.
Therefore, unless a train presents a clear and present danger to the general public through a violation of one or more of the hazardous material rules, before a crew reaches its hours of service they will stop their train, the locomotive engineer will secure the locomotive(s) and the crew will secure the remaining portion of the train pursuant to that carriers rules and the GCOR, where is and as is.
Any fines for blocked crossings will be the sole responsibility of the carrier.
Further, it is recommended that the Superintendent and the Chief Operations officer of the Union pacific, BNSF, Kansas City Southern and its subsidiaries(the TexMex), and the General Manager and the Superintendent of the PTRA advise their dispatchers and yardmasters of this memo, and advise them of what, under Federal regulations, constitutes an "emergency".
Any further violations of the Federal Hours of Service Law will result in fines, incremental, until this matter is resolved.
I specifically asked the TRRC inspector what she considered an emergency...to wit...a derailment or accident where the presence of the original crew was required to attempt to save another persons life, or to move hazardous material cars to a point where they would not present a danger to the general public or other railroad employees, but only if another crew was not immediately available for such work...and moving a train so that no hazardous material cars were left under a bridge or overpass used by the general public, and or resting on a public crossing.
In other words, I could be ordered to leave a grain car blocking a street, but not a cyanide car....
She was also very clear on one other point...it is the crew responsibility to notify the dispatcher when they are getting close to the hours of service, and to advise the dispatcher if they, (the crew) do not believe that they can make a yard or siding in the time left.
I asked her for a set time to do this, and she gave me the "look"...and told me "you guys know your territory better than anyone else, and you guys know if you can make it in time...there is no “set time”, and you know that!"
(Hey, ya gotta try!)
Crew change locations and availability of crews are the sole responsibility of the carriers, and the TRRC and the FRA both state that with proper planning, there is no reason for any crew, with the rare exceptions mentioned above, to be ordered to work past the hours of service.
My advice to any of you new guys who are routinely ordered to work past the hours of service...do so, but make sure it is under protest, and when you tie up, call the field officer for the FRA in your area, and register a complaint.
Every single time.
A lot of the FRA guys are under the gun for not issuing fines, and are in job justification mode right now...I bet they would just love to hear from you right now...
Ed
